Control device, electrical equipment and system

Abstract

To provide a control device capable of reducing noise in the circumference of a user.SOLUTION: A control device comprises: an ambient sound signal acquisition part which acquires an ambient sound signal related to surrounding sounds; a user position information acquisition part which acquires user position information on the position of the user; an opposite-phase sound signal generation part which utilizes the ambient sound signal and user position information to generate an opposite-phase sound signal for reducing the surrounding sounds at the position of the user; and an output sound signal output part which utilizes the opposite-phase sound signal to output an output sound signal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device, an electrical device, and a system.

Background Art

[0002] A television device having a telephone function is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1). The television device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a television voice removal circuit that removes a television voice signal input via a microphone from a transmitted voice signal input to the microphone and outputs the transmitted voice signal after the television voice signal is removed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The voice output device disclosed in Patent Document 1 can remove a signal corresponding to television voice from the voice signals input to the microphone. However, the television device disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not consider the removal of environmental noise such as noise generated around the user.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a control device, an electrical device, and a system capable of reducing noise around a user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A control device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an ambient sound signal acquisition unit that acquires an ambient sound signal related to ambient sound, a user position information acquisition unit that acquires user position information related to the position of a user, an anti-phase sound signal generation unit that generates an anti-phase sound signal for reducing the ambient sound at the position of the user by using the ambient sound signal and the user position information, and an output sound signal output unit that outputs an output sound signal by using the anti-phase sound signal.

[0007] An electrical device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a control device including an ambient sound signal acquisition unit that acquires an ambient sound signal related to ambient sound, a user position information acquisition unit that acquires user position information related to the position of a user, an anti-phase sound signal generation unit that generates an anti-phase sound signal for reducing the ambient sound at the position of the user by using the ambient sound signal and the user position information, and an output sound signal output unit that outputs an output sound signal by using the anti-phase sound signal, and a user position detection unit that detects the position of the user and outputs the user position information to the control device.

[0008] A system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a control device including an ambient sound signal acquisition unit that acquires an ambient sound signal related to ambient sound, a user position information acquisition unit that acquires user position information related to the position of a user, an anti-phase sound signal generation unit that generates an anti-phase sound signal for reducing the ambient sound at the position of the user by using the ambient sound signal and the user position information, and an output sound signal output unit that outputs an output sound signal by using the anti-phase sound signal, and a terminal that communicates with the control device. The terminal has an ambient sound detection unit that detects the ambient sound and outputs the ambient sound signal to the control device, and the user position information acquisition unit acquires information related to the position of the terminal as the user position information.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

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Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments and modifications of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the same or corresponding members are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout all the drawings, and the overlapping descriptions thereof are omitted. In addition, the embodiments and modifications described below are merely examples of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and modifications. Even outside these embodiments and modifications, various changes can be made according to the design and the like as long as the technical idea of the present disclosure is not deviated from.

[0011] (First Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the television 100 will be described as an example of the electric device of the present disclosure. Note that the electric device is not limited to a television, and any electric device that can output sound may be used. For example, the electric device may be an acoustic device such as a speaker system.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the television 100 according to the first embodiment includes a display unit 10 having a substantially rectangular shape that is horizontally long as a whole. The display unit 10 has a configuration in which a display panel for displaying an image is arranged on the front side, and a backlight chassis provided with an illumination device including a plurality of light emitters such as mini-LED chips is arranged on the back side. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the main part configuration of the television 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] In the following description, the longitudinal direction of the display unit 10 is defined as the left-right direction, the short-side direction of the display unit 10 is defined as the up-down direction, and the thickness direction of the display unit 10 is defined as the front-back direction (see FIG. 1). Note that, among the left-right directions of the display unit 10, the left side when viewed from the front side is defined as the left direction, and the right side is defined as the right direction. Also, among the front-back directions when viewed from the front side, the front side (near side) of the display unit 10 is defined as the front direction, and the back side (far side) is defined as the back direction. In addition, in the display unit 10, the bottom side is defined as the down direction, and the opposite side is defined as the up direction. However, these directions are directions defined for convenience of explanation and do not limit the directions during the use of the television 100.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the television 100 includes a microphone 1 at the central portion below the frame member that surrounds the outer periphery of the display unit 10, and two speakers 2 respectively on the left and right below the frame member. Note that the number and position of the microphone 1 and the speakers 2 included in the television 100 are not limited to those described above and are arbitrary in the television 100. Further, it is preferable that the speaker 2 is a so-called directional speaker that emits sound in a specific direction.

[0015] The television 100 can, for example, display an image based on a video signal included in a broadcast signal input from the outside on the display unit 10, and output sound based on an audio signal included in the broadcast signal from the speaker 2. Further, the television 100 collects ambient sound outside, that is, the sound around the user who watches the television 100, with the microphone 1, and generates an inverse-phase sound signal that is the inverse phase of the acoustic signal (ambient sound signal) of the collected ambient sound. Then, the television 100 can output inverse-phase sound based on the inverse-phase sound signal from the speaker 2.

[0016] In this way, since the television 100 can output inverse-phase sound of ambient sound, the ambient sound can be canceled and reduced by the inverse-phase sound.

[0017] In the television 100, the display unit 10 is supported on the mounting table 11 via the support column 12. The support column 12 is vertically extendable and contractible, and the height position of the display unit 10 can be adjusted by extending and contracting the support column.

[0018] (Configuration related to inverse-phase sound output processing) Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 2 to 3, the configuration related to the inverse-phase sound output processing in the television 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a block diagram related to the reverse-phase sound output process in the television 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the traveling directions of ambient sound and reverse-phase sound between the television 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure and the user 101 who watches the television 100.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the above-described microphone 1 and speaker 2, the television 100 includes a position detection unit 3 (user position detection unit), a control unit 4 (control device), a storage unit 5, and a reception unit 6 (audio signal reception unit).

[0021] As shown in FIG. 3, the position detection unit 3 detects the position of the user 101 who watches the television 100 with the television 100 as a reference point. The position detection unit 3 can be provided, for example, on the side of the frame member of the television 100. The position detection unit 3 can be an optical sensor such as a millimeter wave sensor or an infrared sensor that irradiates laser light and detects the distance and direction to the user 101 based on the information of the reflected light. That is, when the position detection unit 3 is an optical sensor, the position detection unit 3 includes a light source that irradiates light and a light receiving element that receives the light reflected by the user, and can detect the position of the user based on the reflected light received by the light receiving element. Alternatively, the position detection unit 3 may be an image sensor that acquires an image of the user 101. When the position detection unit 3 is an image sensor, edge detection or the like is performed on the acquired image to extract the image of the user 101. Then, the position detection unit 3 detects the position of the user 101 from the range and ratio that the extracted image of the user 101 occupies in the entire image.

[0022] The control unit 4 is a control device that performs various controls on each part of the television 100. The control unit 4 includes, as functional blocks for executing the inverted-phase sound output process, an ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41, an inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42, an output destination information acquisition unit 43 (user position information acquisition unit), an output destination determination unit 44, a sound output control unit 45 (output sound signal output unit), and a voice signal removal unit 46. In the present embodiment, the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41, the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42, the output destination information acquisition unit 43, the output destination determination unit 44, the sound output control unit 45, and the voice signal removal unit 46 are all configured by electronic circuits dedicated to the inverted-phase sound output process.

[0023] In addition, when the control unit 4 is realized by an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example, the CPU reads a program stored in the storage unit 5 into a memory (not shown) and executes it, so that the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41, the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42, the output destination information acquisition unit 43, the output destination determination unit 44, the sound output control unit 45, and the voice signal removal unit 46 may be realized. A detailed description of the configuration of the control unit 4 will be described later.

[0024] The storage unit 5 is a computer-readable recording medium and can be realized by, for example, a ROM (Read only memory). The storage unit 5 stores information such as programs processed by the control unit 4. Note that the information such as programs is not limited to the above-described storage unit 5 and may be recorded on a non-temporary recording medium such as an optical disk or a hard disk drive.

[0025] The receiving unit 6 receives a broadcast signal as content including a voice signal from the outside. For example, when the television 100 receives a broadcast signal via an antenna (not shown) and causes the display unit 10 to display an image based on the video signal included in the broadcast signal and outputs the voice based on the voice signal included in the broadcast signal from the speaker 2, the receiving unit 6 can be configured by a tuner that receives the broadcast signal and a decoder that decodes the broadcast signal received by the tuner and converts it into a video signal and a voice signal.

[0026] (Configuration of the control unit) Here, with reference to FIG. 2, the detailed configuration of the control unit 4 will be described. The ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 acquires an ambient sound signal, which is an acoustic signal related to external ambient sound collected by the microphone 1. The ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 transmits the ambient sound signal acquired from the microphone 1 to the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42.

[0027] The inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 generates an inverted-phase sound signal that is the inverted phase of the ambient sound signal. More specifically, the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 generates an inverted-phase sound signal based on the ambient sound signal received from the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 and the user position information regarding the position of the user 101 acquired as output destination information by the output destination information acquisition unit 43, such that the ambient sound at the position of the user 101 is reduced. That is, the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 obtains the distance between the user 101 and the television 100 from the user position information, and generates an inverted-phase sound signal with an amplitude corresponding to the obtained distance. The inverted-phase sound signal is generated such that its amplitude increases as the distance between the user 101 and the television 100 increases.

[0028] The output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires output destination information (user position information) regarding the output destination of the inverted-phase sound signal generated by the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42.

[0029] In the television 100 according to the first embodiment, it is configured to output an inverted-phase sound based on the inverted-phase sound signal toward the user 101 who is viewing the television 100 through the speaker 2. For this reason, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 controls the position detection unit 3 to detect the position of the user 101. Then, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires, as output destination information, the user position information regarding the position of the user 101 from the position detection unit 3.

[0030] The output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the inverted-phase sound based on the output destination information acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43. In the first embodiment, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the position of the user 101 as the output destination of the inverted-phase sound.

[0031] The sound output control unit 45 outputs an anti-phase sound signal (output sound signal) to the speaker 2 so that the anti-phase sound (output sound) is emitted from the speaker 2 toward the output destination determined by the output destination determination unit 44, that is, the position of the user 101.

[0032] In this way, as shown in FIG. 3, the anti-phase sound is emitted from the speaker 2 of the television 100 toward the user 101.

[0033] As described above, since the television 100 according to the present embodiment can emit the anti-phase sound from the speaker 2 toward the user 101, the ambient sound around the user 101 can be reduced by the anti-phase sound.

[0034] In the television 100, for example, when receiving a broadcast signal and emitting sound based on the audio signal included in the broadcast signal from the speaker 2, the control unit 4 generates an anti-phase sound signal as follows.

[0035] That is, the audio signal removing unit 46 removes the component of the audio signal from the ambient sound signal acquired by the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41. Then, the anti-phase sound signal generation unit 42 generates an anti-phase sound signal that reduces the ambient sound at the position of the user 101 by using the ambient sound signal from which the component of the audio signal has been removed and the user position information.

[0036] In this way, since the control unit 4 can remove the component of the audio signal from the ambient sound signal and generate an anti-phase sound signal, only the ambient sound around the user 101 can be reduced without reducing the sound based on the audio signal. Therefore, the user 101 can listen to the sound output from the television 100 without being hindered by the ambient sound.

[0037] (Modification example) Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the configuration of the television 100 according to a modification of the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram regarding the reverse-phase sound output process in the television 100 according to a modification of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the appropriate viewing distance information 51 stored in the storage unit 5 provided in the television 100 according to a modification of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. In the table shown in FIG. 5, the correspondence between the size of the screen of the display unit 10, the dimension in the height direction (vertical direction) of the screen, and the optimal viewing distance (appropriate viewing distance) of the user 101 viewing the television 100 is shown. Note that the viewing distance means the distance from the television 100 to the user 101 who views the video displayed on the display unit 10.

[0038] The television 100 according to the modification of the first embodiment is different from the television 100 of the first embodiment in the following points. That is, the television 100 according to the modification of the first embodiment does not include the position detection unit 3, and the storage unit 5 includes the appropriate viewing distance information 51 and the device information 52 as user position information, which is different from the television 100 of the first embodiment. Further, the television 100 according to the modification of the first embodiment is different from the television 100 of the first embodiment in that the output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires the appropriate viewing distance information 51 and the device information 52 from the storage unit 5 as output destination information (user position information). In other respects, since the television 100 according to the first embodiment and the television 100 according to the first modification of the first embodiment have the same configuration, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and their description is omitted.

[0039] In the television 100 according to the modification of the first embodiment, it is assumed that the user 101 faces the screen of the television 100 directly and views the video at a position corresponding to the appropriate viewing distance set for each television 100, and the reverse-phase sound of the ambient sound is output at a position forward from the television 100 by the appropriate viewing distance.

[0040] That is, the memory unit 5 includes the appropriate viewing distance information 51 and the device information 52. As shown in FIG. 5, the appropriate viewing distance information 51 is information in which an appropriate viewing distance corresponding to the size of the screen of the television 100, the dimension in the height direction of the screen, and the resolution of the television 100 is associated. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the screen size is 43V type, the dimension in the height direction of the screen is 52.9 cm, and when the resolution is 8K or 4K, the appropriate viewing distance is about 0.8 m. On the other hand, when the resolution is full HD (2K), the appropriate viewing distance is about 1.6 m.

[0041] The device information 52 is information about the television 100 and includes at least information about the screen size and resolution of the television 100.

[0042] In the above-described configuration, in the television 100 according to the modification of the first embodiment, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 reads and acquires the appropriate viewing distance information 51 and the device information 52 from the memory unit 5 as output destination information (user position information).

[0043] The inverse-phase sound signal generation unit 42 obtains an appropriate viewing distance when viewing the video displayed on the television 100 based on the ambient sound signal received from the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41, the appropriate viewing distance information 51, and the device information 52 acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43. For example, when the screen size of the television 100 is 43V type and the resolution is 4K in the device information 52, the inverse-phase sound signal generation unit 42 obtains that the appropriate viewing distance is about 0.8 m. Then, based on the obtained appropriate viewing distance, an inverse-phase sound signal is generated so that the ambient sound at the position of the user 101 is reduced.

[0044] Further, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the out-of-phase sound based on the appropriate viewing distance information 51 and the device information 52 acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43. For example, when the screen size of the television 100 is 43V type and the resolution is 4K, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the out-of-phase sound to be a position directly facing the screen of the television 100 and about 0.8 m away from the television 100. Then, the sound output control unit 45 outputs an out-of-phase sound signal (output sound signal) to the speaker 2, and the speaker 2 emits an out-of-phase sound toward the determined position.

[0045] As described above, in the television 100 according to the modification of the first embodiment, when the user 101 views the video while being separated from the display unit 10 by the appropriate viewing distance, the ambient sound around the user 101 can be reduced. Therefore, the user 101 can view the video in a more optimal environment.

[0046] (Second Embodiment) Next, the configuration of the television system 300 (system) according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the traveling directions of the ambient sound and the out-of-phase sound between the television 110 and the user 101 in the television system 300 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 6, the traveling directions of the ambient sound and the out-of-phase sound are indicated by solid arrows, and the traveling direction of the out-of-phase sound signal is indicated by a broken arrow. FIG. 7 is a block diagram regarding the out-of-phase sound output process in the television system 300 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the television system 300 includes a television 110 and a remote control 102 communicably connected to the television 110. The television 110 according to the second embodiment is configured to receive an operation instruction from the remote control 102 and perform control according to the operation instruction.

[0048] Incidentally, the television 100 according to the first embodiment was configured to emit an out-of-phase sound from the speaker 2 toward the user 101. In contrast, the television 110 according to the second embodiment is configured to emit an out-of-phase sound from the remote control speaker 21 provided in the remote control 102 that is communicably connected to the television 110, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0049] More specifically, the television 110 according to the second embodiment differs from the television 100 of the first embodiment in the following points. That is, the television 110 according to the second embodiment does not include the position detection unit 3 and further includes the communication control unit 7. Also, the television 110 according to the second embodiment differs from the television 100 of the first embodiment in that the output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires the output destination designation information received from the remote control 102 as output destination information (user position information). In other respects, since the television 100 according to the first embodiment and the television 110 according to the second embodiment have the same configuration, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and their description is omitted.

[0050] The communication control unit 7 controls to establish communication with the remote control 102. That is, the television 110 is communicably connected to the remote control 102 by the communication control unit 7 via short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). For this reason, the television 110 can receive information from the remote control 102 or transmit information to the remote control 102 via the communication control unit 7.

[0051] In the television 110 according to the second embodiment, the out-of-phase sound of the ambient sound is generated and output to the outside as follows. That is, the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 acquires the ambient sound signal collected by the microphone 1. Then, the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 transmits the ambient sound signal to the out-of-phase sound signal generation unit 42. Then, the out-of-phase sound signal generation unit 42 generates an out-of-phase sound signal that is the opposite phase of the ambient sound signal.

[0052] Further, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires output destination information regarding the output destination of the inverse-phase sound signal generated by the inverse-phase sound signal generation unit 42. In the television 110 according to the second embodiment, the remote controller 102 is configured to transmit output destination designation information designating the remote controller 102 as the output destination of the inverse-phase sound from the remote controller 102 to the television 110. The user 101 can transmit the output destination designation information to the television 110 at an arbitrary timing by the remote controller 102. For example, the remote controller 102 may set the timing for transmitting the output destination designation information to be the startup time of the television 110 or the timing when video playback is executed on the television 110.

[0053] Also, in the case where the remote controller 102 is provided with a positioning system such as GPS (Global Positioning System) and can acquire its own position information, it may be configured to transmit its own position information to the television 110 together with the output destination designation information. Here, it can be estimated that the remote controller 102 is arranged in the vicinity of the user 101 who operates the remote controller 102. Therefore, in the case where the remote controller 102 is configured to transmit its own position information to the television 110, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 can regard the position information of this remote controller 102 as the user position information. Note that the position information of the remote controller 102 may be acquired using the intensity of electromagnetic waves or light emitted by the remote controller 102.

[0054] In the configuration where the output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires the position information of the remote controller 102 from the remote controller 102 via the communication control unit 7 in this way, the inverse-phase sound signal generation unit 42 generates an inverse-phase sound signal such that the ambient sound at the position of the user 101 is reduced based on the ambient sound signal and the position information of the remote controller 102. That is, the inverse-phase sound signal generation unit 42 obtains the distance between the remote controller 102 and the television 110 from the position information (user position information) of the remote controller 102, and generates an inverse-phase sound signal with an amplitude corresponding to the obtained distance. The inverse-phase sound signal is generated such that the amplitude increases as the distance between the remote controller 102 and the microphone 1 increases.

[0055] Further, an output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the inverted-phase sound signal as the remote controller 102 based on the output destination designation information acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43.

[0056] The sound output control unit 45 controls the communication control unit 7 to output the inverted-phase sound signal generated by the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 to the remote controller 102 which is the output destination determined by the output destination determination unit 44. The communication control unit 7 transmits the inverted-phase sound signal to the remote controller 102 under the control instruction from the sound output control unit 45.

[0057] When the remote controller 102 receives the inverted-phase sound signal from the television 110, the remote controller speaker 21 emits an inverted-phase sound based on this inverted-phase sound signal.

[0058] In this way, the inverted-phase sound of the ambient sound can be emitted from the remote controller speaker 21 of the remote controller 102. Therefore, when the user 101 carries the remote controller 102 or the like and the user 101 is present in the vicinity of the remote controller 102, the ambient sound around the user 101 can be reduced. For this reason, the user 101 can watch the television 110 in a more optimal environment.

[0059] Note that the device communicably connected to the television 110 is not limited to the above-described remote controller 102. It may be a portable terminal such as a smartphone that is communicably connected to the television 110 and can transmit an operation instruction.

[0060] (First Modified Example) Next, the configuration of the television system 300 according to the first modification of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the traveling directions of ambient sound and antiphase sound between the television 110 and the user 101 in the television system 300 according to the first modification of the second embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 8, the traveling directions of the ambient sound and the antiphase sound are indicated by solid arrows, and the traveling directions of the antiphase sound signal and the ambient sound signal are indicated by broken arrows. FIG. 9 is a block diagram regarding the antiphase sound output process in the television system 300 according to the first modification of the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0061] The television system 300 according to the first modification of the second embodiment is different from the television system 300 of the second embodiment in the following points. That is, in the first modification of the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the remote controller 102 further includes a remote controller microphone 22 (ambient sound detection unit), and the remote controller microphone 22 detects an ambient sound signal that is an acoustic signal of ambient sound and outputs it to the television 110. Regarding other configurations, the television 110 according to the first modification of the second embodiment has the same configuration as the television 110 according to the second embodiment, so the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

[0062] That is, the television 110 according to the first modification of the second embodiment has the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 acquire the ambient sound signal of the ambient sound collected by the remote controller microphone 22 via the communication control unit 7, and the antiphase sound signal generation unit 42 generates the antiphase sound signal of the ambient sound signal acquired by the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41.

[0063] Note that the television 110 according to the first modification of the second embodiment, similar to the television 110 according to the second embodiment, transmits the antiphase sound signal generated by the antiphase sound signal generation unit 42 to the remote controller 102 via the communication control unit 7 and is configured to output antiphase sound based on the antiphase sound signal from the remote controller speaker 21.

[0064] Thus, the television system 300 according to the first modification of the second embodiment can detect ambient sound with the remote control microphone 22 of the remote control 102 and output an ambient sound signal to the television 110. Further, the television system 300 according to the first modification of the second embodiment can emit an anti-phase sound of the ambient sound from the remote control speaker 21 of the remote control 102. Therefore, when the user 101 carries the remote control 102 or the like and the user 101 is present in the vicinity of the remote control 102, the ambient sound around the user 101 can be more effectively reduced. For this reason, the user 101 can view the video reproduced by the television 110 in a more optimal environment.

[0065] (Second Modification) Next, the configuration of the television system 300 according to the second modification of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the traveling directions of ambient sound and anti-phase sound between the television 110 and the user 101 in the television system 300 according to the second modification of the second embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 10, the traveling directions of the ambient sound and the anti-phase sound are indicated by solid arrows, and the traveling direction of the ambient sound signal is indicated by a dashed arrow. FIG. 11 is a block diagram regarding the anti-phase sound output process in the television 110 according to the second modification of the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0066] The television system 300 according to the second modification of the second embodiment is different from the television system 300 according to the second embodiment in the following points. That is, in the second modification of the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the remote control 102 does not include the remote control speaker 21, but instead includes the remote control microphone 22, and the ambient sound signal is detected by the remote control microphone 22 and output to the television 110.

[0067] Also, in the television 110 according to the second embodiment, the inverted-phase sound signal generated by the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 is transmitted to the remote controller 102 via the communication control unit 7 and output from the remote controller speaker 21. On the other hand, in the television 110 according to the second modification of the second embodiment, the inverted-phase sound based on the inverted-phase sound signal generated by the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 is emitted from the speaker 2 toward the position of the remote controller 102, which is also different.

[0068] Regarding other configurations, the television 110 according to the second modification of the second embodiment has the same configuration as the television 110 according to the second embodiment, so the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

[0069] That is, the remote controller 102 is configured to be able to acquire its own position information by including a positioning system such as GPS, for example. Then, the remote controller 102 transmits its own position information as output destination designation information to the television 110 at an arbitrary timing.

[0070] The output destination designation information (the position information of the remote controller 102) transmitted from the remote controller 102 is acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43 in the television 110 via the communication control unit 7. Then, the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 generates an inverted-phase sound signal such that the ambient sound at the position of the user 101 is reduced based on the ambient sound signal and the position information of the remote controller 102 acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43. That is, the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 obtains the distance between the remote controller 102 and the television 110 from the position information of the remote controller 102 and generates an inverted-phase sound signal with an amplitude corresponding to the obtained distance.

[0071] Also, the output destination determination unit 44 determines an output destination for outputting an inverted-phase sound based on the output destination designation information (the position information of the remote controller 102) acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43. The sound output control unit 45 outputs an inverted-phase sound from the speaker 2 toward the remote controller 102, which is the output destination determined by the output destination determination unit 44.

[0072] Thus, the television 110 according to the second modification of the second embodiment can output an inverted-phase sound of ambient sound from the speaker 2 toward the remote controller 102. Therefore, when the user 101 carries the remote controller 102 or the like and the user 101 is present in the vicinity of the remote controller 102, the ambient sound around the user 101 can be reduced. For this reason, the user 101 can view the video reproduced by the television 110 in a more optimal environment.

[0073] (Third Modification) Next, the configuration of the television system 300 according to the third modification of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a block diagram related to the inverted-phase sound output process in the television system 300 according to the third modification of the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0074] The television system 300 according to the third modification of the second embodiment is different from the television system 300 according to the second embodiment in the following points. That is, in the third modification of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the television 110 is communicably connected not only to the remote controller 102 but also to a plurality of electronic devices 103 (the first electronic device 103a, the second electronic device 103b, and the third electronic device 103c in the example of FIG. 12). Note that the number of the electronic devices 103 is not limited to the three described above and is arbitrary. Further, the first electronic device 103a, the second electronic device 103b, and the third electronic device 103c may be any electronic devices that each include a speaker (the speaker 23a for the first electronic device, the speaker 23b for the second electronic device, the speaker 23c for the third electronic device) and are communicably connected to the television 110. For example, the first electronic device 103a, the second electronic device 103b, and the third electronic device 103c can be exemplified by an air conditioner, a fan, and a washing machine.

[0075] Moreover, the television 110 according to the third modification of the second embodiment is different from the television 110 according to the second embodiment in that the connection destination information 53 is stored in the storage unit 5. The connection destination information 53 can be the IP addresses of the electronic devices 103 (the first electronic device 103a, the second electronic device 103b, and the third electronic device 103c) that can be communicably connected to the television 110 according to the third modification of the second embodiment.

[0076] For other configurations, the television 110 according to the third modification of the second embodiment has the same configuration as the television 110 according to the second embodiment, so the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

[0077] That is, the remote controller 102 transmits, as output destination designation information, information designating any one of the first electronic device 103a, the second electronic device 103b, and the third electronic device 103c as the output destination of the out-of-phase sound to the television 110 at an arbitrary timing.

[0078] The output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires the output destination designation information transmitted from the remote controller 102 via the communication control unit 7 in the television 110. Then, based on the output destination designation information, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 refers to the connection destination information 53 stored in the storage unit 5 and acquires output destination information such as the IP address of the electronic device 103 designated as the output destination of the out-of-phase sound.

[0079] The output destination determination unit 44 determines the IP address destination included in the output destination information acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43 as the connection partner for establishing communication to output the out-of-phase sound. Then, the output destination determination unit 44 instructs the communication control unit 7 to establish a connection with the electronic device 103 that becomes the determined connection partner.

[0080] When the communication control unit 7 establishes communication with the device instructed by the output destination determination unit 44, the sound output control unit 45 transmits an inverted-phase sound signal to the device that becomes the communication partner via the communication control unit 7. In this way, in the television system 300 according to the second embodiment, it is possible to output inverted-phase sound from the electronic device 103 designated by the remote controller 102.

[0081] Note that the television 110 according to the third modification of the second embodiment was configured to receive output destination designation information for designating the output destination of the inverted-phase sound from the remote controller 102. However, the television 110 may be provided with an operation unit (not shown), and the user 101 may operate the operation unit to input the output destination designation information to the television 110. When configured in this way, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 can acquire the output destination designation information via the operation unit.

[0082] Further, the communication control unit may have a plurality of ports and be communicably connected to each of the plurality of devices via different ports. In the case of such a configuration, the connection destination information 53 can be the number of the port used for connection to the device designated as the output destination of the inverted-phase sound.

[0083] In this way, the television 110 according to the third modification of the second embodiment can output the inverted-phase ambient sound from the device designated as the output destination by the user 101. Therefore, the user 101 can output the inverted-phase sound from the desired device. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the ambient sound according to the user's needs.

[0084] (Third Embodiment) Next, the configuration of the television 120 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of the main part configuration of the television 120 according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14 is a block diagram regarding the inverted-phase sound output process in the television 120 according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0085] As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the television 120 according to the third embodiment is different from the television 100 according to the first embodiment in that it includes a plurality of microphones 1 (microphone 1a, microphone 1b, microphone 1c).

[0086] That is, as shown in FIG. 13, in the television 120 according to the third embodiment, the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c are arranged at regular intervals in the left - right direction below the frame member, from left to right.

[0087] Also, the television 120 according to the third embodiment does not include the position detection unit 3, and is also different in that the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the anti - phase sound based on the ambient sound signals of the ambient sound collected by each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c.

[0088] Except for the above - mentioned points, the television 120 according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as the television 100 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted.

[0089] More specifically, the television 120 according to the third embodiment generates anti - phase sound as follows and outputs the generated anti - phase sound to the determined output destination.

[0090] First, in the television 120, the ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 acquires the ambient sound regarding the external ambient sound collected by each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c. The ambient sound signal acquisition unit 41 transmits the ambient sound signals acquired from each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c to the anti - phase sound signal generation unit 42.

[0091] The inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 generates an inverted-phase sound signal that is the inverted phase of the ambient sound signals acquired from each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c. Here, the inverted-phase sound signal generated by the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 is generated from the signal obtained by synthesizing the ambient sound signals acquired from each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c. Note that the inverted-phase sound signal generation unit 42 may be configured to generate an inverted-phase sound signal from each of the ambient sound signals acquired from each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c and then synthesize the respective inverted-phase sound signals.

[0092] Also, the output destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires information regarding the magnitude of the amplitude of the ambient sound signals collected by each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c as output destination information.

[0093] The output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the anti-phase sound based on the output destination information acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43. In the third embodiment, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the anti-phase sound based on the magnitudes of the amplitudes of the ambient sound signals collected by each of the microphones 1a, 1b, and 1c, which are acquired by the output destination information acquisition unit 43. Specifically, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the anti-phase sound based on the position where the microphone 1 that collects the ambient sound with the largest amplitude, in other words, the microphone 1 with the loudest sound, is provided. More specifically, when the output destination determination unit 44 determines that the microphone 1 that collects the ambient sound with the largest sound is the microphone 1a, it estimates that there is a source of ambient sound on the left side of the microphone 1a, that is, on the left side of the television 120. Then, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the anti-phase sound to be diagonally in front of the left side of the television 120. Conversely, when the output destination determination unit 44 determines that the microphone 1 that collects the ambient sound with the largest sound is the microphone 1c, it assumes that there is a source of ambient sound on the right side of the television 120. Then, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the anti-phase sound to be diagonally in front of the right side of the television 120. Also, when the output destination determination unit 44 determines that the microphone that collects the ambient sound with the largest sound is the microphone 1b, it assumes that there is a source of ambient sound in front of the television 120. Then, the output destination determination unit 44 determines the output destination of the anti-phase sound to be directly in front of the television 120.

[0094] Then, the sound output control unit 45 causes the anti-phase sound of the ambient sound to be output from the speaker 2 in the output direction determined by the output destination determination unit 44.

[0095] In this way, the anti-phase sound is output from the speaker 2 of the television 120 in the direction where a source of ambient sound is estimated to be. For this reason, the television 120 can reduce the ambient sound around the television 120 by the anti-phase sound. Therefore, the user 101 can watch the television 120 without being hindered by the ambient sound.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0096] 1 Microphone 1a Microphone 1b Microphone 1c Microphone 2 Speaker 3 Position detection unit 4 Control unit 5 Memory unit 6 Receiver 7 Communication control unit 10 Display unit 21 Remote control speaker 22 Remote control microphone 23a Speaker for the first electronic device 23b Speaker for the second electronic device 23c Speaker for the third electronic device 41 Ambient sound signal acquisition unit 42 Inverse-phase sound signal generation unit 43 Output destination information acquisition unit 44 Output destination determination unit 45 Sound output control unit 46 Voice signal removal unit 51 Appropriate viewing distance information 52 Device information 53 Connection destination information 100 Television 101 User 102 Remote control 103 Electronic device 103a First electronic device 103b Second electronic device 103c Third electronic device 110 Television 120 Television 300 Television system

Claims

1. An ambient sound signal acquisition unit that acquires an ambient sound signal related to ambient sound; A user position information acquisition unit that acquires user position information related to the position of the user; An anti-phase sound signal generation unit that generates an anti-phase sound signal for reducing the ambient sound at the position of the user by using the ambient sound signal and the user position information; A control device comprising an output sound signal output unit that outputs an output sound signal by using the anti-phase sound signal.

2. A voice signal reception unit that receives a voice signal; Further comprising a voice signal removal unit that removes the component of the voice signal from the ambient sound signal, The anti-phase sound signal generation unit generates the anti-phase sound signal for reducing the ambient sound at the position of the user by using the ambient sound signal from which the component of the voice signal has been removed and the user position information, according to the control device of Claim 1.

3. The control device according to Claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores the user position information.

4. An electric device comprising the control device according to Claim 1, And a user position detection unit that detects the position of the user and outputs the user position information to the control device.

5. An electric device comprising the control device according to Claim 1, And a speaker that emits sound in a specific direction, The output sound signal output unit outputs the output sound signal to the speaker that emits sound toward the position of the user.

6. A system comprising the control device according to Claim 1, And a terminal that communicates with the control device, The terminal has an ambient sound detection unit that detects the ambient sound and outputs the ambient sound signal to the control device, The user position information acquisition unit acquires information related to the position of the terminal as the user position information.

7. The terminal further has a sound output unit that emits sound, The anti-phase sound signal generation unit outputs the anti-phase sound signal to the sound output unit, according to the system of Claim 6.

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